Google: Explained: What is PhonePe’s new app store and why Google may have a reason to ‘worry’

Google’s monopoly on apps — at least on Android phones — with Play Store has been under scrutiny in India for a while. Several high-profile apps and developers have raised questions over it. Now, PhonePe has gone a step further and launched a new app store to challenge Google’s supremacy. Here are all the details:
What is PhonePe’s app store?
Last week, PhonePe announced the launch of the Indus Appstore Developer Platform. PhonePe wants all Android developers to register and upload their apps using the Indus Appstore. According to PhonePe, these apps will be listed on the soon-to-be-launched

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Made-in-India

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Indus Appstore, offering a localised experience in 12 languages.
Why has PhonePe launched an app store?
Google, at the moment, charges 15-30% from developers for in-app purchases. That has been a bone of contention between Google and app developers. Even the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been involved it. PhonePe wants to avoid that and give developers an alternative, which till now didn’t exist. PhonePe’s idea is to help developers who reportedly have to pay the commission. A report by TechCrunch also reveals that developers have been slightly unhappy with Google’s operating hours — US timezones — and it leads to delayed responses.
Will PhonePe be charging developers?
Not yet.App listings on the Indus Appstore Developer Platform will be free for the first year, post which a nominal annual fee will apply, said the company. The Indus Appstore will not charge developers any platform fee or commission for In-App Payments. Developers will be free to integrate any payment gateway of their choice inside their own apps. So that’s a big difference from the Play Store. “Despite being such a large consumer market, app developers have always been forced to work with only one app store – Google Playstore – for distributing their apps,” said Akash Dongre, CPO & Co-Founder, Indus Appstore. He hopes that Indus Appstore hopes to provide app developers a credible alternative to the Google Play Store – one that is more localised and offers better app discovery and consumer engagement.
Should Google be worried?
Till now, app developers had no alternative but to list their apps on Play Store. Developers also had no choice but to pay Google a commission on in-app purchases. Google over the years has reduced that commission for certain categories of developers. It’s a bit early to say how app developers take to a new platform and Google will still dominate the proceedings. But it certainly has got some food for thought with PhonePe’s move.
How will it help developers?
Developers get an alternative platform to reach out to Android users. Indus Appstore is offering new features, which Google currently doesn’t. For startups and new app launches, Indus Appstore will have a dedicated destination called “Launch Pad” to provide these new apps with better visibility as well as search optimisation. It will also offer several developer tools and features that address the challenges faced by most Android developers, including a dedicated round-the-clock customer support team based in India, the option to list their app in 12 Indian languages besides English.